Window sash anchoring mechanism



@et 14, 947- L'. A. MACKLANBURG Y 2,428,976

- INDw sAsH ANCHORING MECHAISM Original Filed March 30, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet v1 F] lNlL/R.

y Oct. 14,1947.l A. MACKLANBURG 2,423,976

WINDOW SASH ANCHORING MECHANISM Original .Filed March 50, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 j Il Patented Oct. 14, 1947 WINDOW SASIT AN CHORING. MECHNISM' Louis A.. Mecklenburg, oklahomacity, om..

substituted' for Mrcl 30', 1944;

1945; Seralf No; 62130 6T Claims.

The.- in-vention relates to mechanism for arr-- choring vertically sliding window sasha,

The present application isa substitute of my former application which was l'ed March; 30;. 1944s, under Seriai No.. 5:218."i9k,l and. which. was. permitted to diel through.. error.

During the last few years, window frame. and sash manufacturers have, been doing considerable experimentation in an. attempt: to; find; at practical method of anchoring verticallyslidable windowv sash in variouspositions. of vertical ad justment, so that theusual. sash. cords, sash pul leys and counterbalancing' sasha weights couldv be: eliminated; elements would. not o save metal., huty would4 also constitute a considerable saving; in. window' frame. materials. since the. usual box; or channel at.. each side of. the. and in whichthev sash weight travels, could thereby be dispensed, with.. Elimination of the sash weight channel;i would not only save'in thewindowcirame. materials; but would permit. a plurality or batteryx of such trames to.y be mounted side by side in. close; relation to. each other, so that; more usable: wall, space could. be providedz in a. building;

It.: has been found that, where; comparatively' light weight window sash aref used, the. counter balancing action of; the usual: sash weightsis; not; absolutely necessary;A since it; does. not requireY a. prohibitive amount.. of eiort to bod-ily` lift: suchsash. The: prime d-iiiiculty has, been in. finding a. means for anchoring. the; caslr. in any and all desired posi-tions ofverticalz adjustments, if the sashweights.: are eliminated..

The. prime; object of; the present invention is. to provide a mechanism which will positively hold a; vertically slidablief window sash. in anyy and. all positions or vertical adiustment, when the usual: sash weight: is absent..

A further object, is to; provide.L armechanisnr. for this purpose which is adjustable, after insulation, in. orderv to compensate for diierent. sash of various. weights.. and also for sash having: dii-1 ferentamounts. of. @fictional engagement with: the: window frame.- sa-sh. races; ink which they operate.

Another' object is to pr .idea device. of this classr which. is automatic in. operatiom A still further obieet is to provide.:S a. sash an` chori-ngrnechanism. which ltunctions through the. application of friction, inv contradistinctioni to those. sash balances which use a. helical spring..

Yetanother obiect is to provide a. device.: of this. class in which; there-is les friction applied. when. the sash is being raised, than. when it, is; being lowered.

application. Serial. No. 5283.91, is application October. 8,.,

(CL. 1Min-202i) Further objects will be apparent from the i-ollomng description, when taken in connection the accompanying two sheets of drawings,

. wherein:

mechanism, the dotted lines: showing theA relative.

The elimination of theselong: used? vertical.' positions of the sheavesY therein;

Figure 3i is; a vertical sectional view taken sube stantially along the line 3-f3 of Figure' 2;

Figure 41 is aviewfsimlar to Figure. 2, with. the fron-tj face plate, of the housing removed, the; dotted lines. illustratingthe lateral' adjustabilityf of the middle sheave;

Figure 5-i`s an enlargedl perspective4 View ofthe,- upper cable anchoring element.;

Figure.I 6i is an enlargedk perspective view ofthe clamp. tor anchoring the: lower endy of the cable;

Figure '75 isf a. vertical: sectional view' detailing au dev-ice, used in connection with the mecha- Irism, for relieving friction upon the cable asthe sash is: being raised..

Like-I characters. of reference indicate like parts. in all of the figures.

In. the drawings:

The reference; numeral t indicates', as a whole.. a typical window frameA having vertical side mem bers 2: andi top. and bottom; members; 3 and 4 respectively. Slidablymounted'for vertical move-A ment between. the side vmembers 2 are an upper sash. 5 and* aA lower sash. (i, both of which are, usuali. The reference numeral 1 indicates the inside faces of the. two,v side members 2 andv the, numeralilindicatessthe; two side railszof the lower sash.-

The' mechanism of: the. present invention consists; primarily of' a sheave box or housing IU, a flexible,l cable; lt, an anchoring element I2 for the upper end. ofthe cable,` and a: clamping mechanisnn t3 for: the lower end of the cable.

Referring now moreA particularly to- Figures 2; 3. and 4,. box; l 0.- and its. associated parts,- will first be; described.

The box Il) is preferably made of sheet: metal", is' substantially rectangular in form, and consists ofY a back wall M. havingl one perpendicular side wallz |5: and top and: bottom Wallsl t6` and I'I respectivelrvr. The front of the box l0: is; adaptedA to; be entirely closed by' a removable face. plate I8. One side of the housing remains entirely open, and this side is the one which lies adjacent the left hand edge I9 (Figure 4) of the back wall |4.

Rotatably mounted within the housing I upon pivot pins or axles 20 are two sheaves 2| and 22 which are peripherally grooved to receive the flexible cable I|, the oice of which is more fully described hereinbelow. The pins 2| and 22 are permanently fixed in the back wall |4, and the front plate |8 is superficially bored in its inside face to nest the forward ends of these pivot pins. This arrangement maintains the sheaves 2| and 22 in fixed relation to each other and to the housing, except for their rotation.

At a point substantially midway between the two sheaves 2| and 22, the face plate I8 is provided with an elongated through slot 23 which extends for a desired distance toward the right hand therein from a left hand point in alignment with the two pivot pins 2|).

A set-screw 24 extends through the slot 23 and its threads adjustably engage with internal threads carried by a tubular axle 25. The front end of the axle 25 has an annular flange or head 26 adapted to be drawn firmly against the inside, or rear face, of the plate I8, when the'setscrew 24 is tightened. The rear end of the axle 25 rests against the forward face of the back wall I4 of the housing. The axle 25 can therefore be moved to any desired point along the slot 23 when the set-screw is loosened, and may be anchored firmly against movement by tightening the set-screw. Rotatably mounted upon the axle 25 is a third sheave 21.

Before the device is mounted upon the window sash, the cable II is threaded between and p artially around the three sheaves 2|, 21, and 22 as shown, and the central sheave 21 is positioned in substantial alignment with the other two sheaves as illustrated in solid lines in Figure 4. The box is then mounted by screws 28 to the upper corner of the sash 6 with its open side flush with the outer vertical edge of the side rail 8 of the sash. The upper end of the cable II is attached by the anchoring element I2 and a wood screw 29 to the upper portion of the face 1 of the side member 2 of the window frame I. The lower end of the cable is then hanging along the lower portion of the face 1.

The clamping mechanism I3 is then installed upon the face 1 of the window frame adjacent the dangling end of the cable.

This clamping mechanism |3 consists substantially of a metal block 3l) having a corrugated surface 3|. 'The block 3] is anchored by screws 32 to the face 1 of the window frame. The mechanism I3 further includes another block 33 having a corrugated surface 34 adapted to register with the surface 3| of the block 30. Stub-bolts 35 act to draw the block 33 into intimate engagement with the block 30 in an obvious manner.

The dangling end of the cable is passed between the corrugated surfaces of the blocks 3|] and 33 and is manually drawn taut. The stub bolts 35 are then tightened to hold the cable in such taut condition. It is, of course, intended that one of the devices will be installed at each side of the window frame, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Due to the fact that the sheave 21 acts to place a kink in the cable I frictional resistance to the movement of the sheaves along the cable is set up between the sheaves and the cable, and this resistance may be increased by lateral adiustment of the sheave 21 along the slot 23 in the front plate I8 of the housing.

As a means for decreasing the friction between the sheaves and the cable only during upward movement of the sash 5, the mechanism of Figure '1 is interposed in the cable I I between the lower end of the housing I9 and the upper end of the clamping mechanism |3. This friction relaxing mechanism is indicated, as a whole, by the reference numeral 4B, and consists substantially of a cylindrical body 4| forming a chamber 42 with a closed bottom 43 and an open upper end. A plunger 44 having an outwardly extending annular ange 45 at its lower end is slidably positioned within the chamber e2, and a helical spring 46 is provided around the plunger and seated upon the flange 45. The upper end of the chamber 42 is closed by an annular plate 41 which surrounds the upper portion of the plunger d4, and the upper end of Ithe spring (i5 bears against the nether surface of this plate 41.

When the mechanism 49 is used, the cable is severed and one portion is attached to the upper end of the plunger 44, while the other portion is attached to the lower end of the body 4| as shown.

With the mechanism 4G thus installed in the cable, upward movement of the window sash Ii will act to compress the spring 45 and thus slacken the cable. This, of course, decreases friction between the cable and the sheaves and permits the sash to be more easily raised. As soon as this upward movement of the sash ceases, the spring returns to its expanded condition, and the cable is again held taut.

It is thought to be obvious that the above described mechanism will accomplish all of the objects and purposes set forth hereinabove.

I claim:

1. In a device for the purpose set forth, the combination with a window frame having a vertical sash'race, and with a window sash mounted for vertical movement in said race, of: a plurality of at least three vertically disposed sheaves carried by the sash adjacent said race; a flexible -cable mounted upon the frame adjacent and parallel to said sash race, said cable being threaded between and partially around said sheaves, whereby a substantially abrupt bend is placed therein, for obtaining sufficient frictional engagement with the sheaves to hold the sash against gravitational movement; and means carried by the cable below the sheaves for relieving said friction during upward movement of the sash.

2. Organization as described in claim 1, and means for adjustably positioning one of said sheaves at different horizontal positions upon the sash, for increasing or decreasing said friction.

3. A device for the purpose set forth, including: a flexible cable; means for attaching the cable in a taut condition to a window frame adiacent and parallel to a vertical sash race carried by the frame; a plurality of vertically disposed sheaves rotatably mounted upon a window sash adjacent said cable, said cable being threaded partially around all of said sheaves whereby a substantially abrupt bend is placed in the cable for obtaining sufficient friction between the cable and the Vsheaves to support the weight of the sash; and means, carried by the cable below the sheaves for relieving said friction during upward movement of the sash.

4. Organization as described in claim 3, and mean for adjustably positioning one of said sheaves on the sash to increase or decrease said friction.

5. The combination with a window frame having a vertical sash race, and with a window sash mounted for vertical movement in said race, of a plurality of vertically spaced sheaves carried by the sash adjacent said race, a flexible cable threaded between and partially around said sheaves; means for attaching one end of said cable to the upper portion of the window frame adjacent said race; clamping means carried by the frame adjacent said race, and below said sheaves, for holding the cable in various degrees 

